The USPTO issued approximately 318,849 utility patents in 2017, an increase of about 5.2 percent over 2016, and published 380,450 utility and plant patent applications, slightly fewer than 2016.

Table 1 shows the number of documents by type. Design patents and plant patents increased by 6.9 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. Reissue patents declined 7.5 percent over 2016. The total number of patent documents published in 2017 was 726,218.

Table 1. US Patents by Type Issued in 2017*

Type

2017

2016

% Change

Utility patents

318,849

303,051

5.2

Reissue patents

394

426

-7.5

Design patents

30,872

28,874

6.9

Plant patents

1,311

1,235

6.2

Applications

380,450

381,792

0.4

*Based on preliminary data from the USPTO website. Totals may change after the fact due to withdrawn patents and published applications.

The USPTO is on track to issue patent number 10,000,000 in 2018, probably by May or June.

The USPTO issued 303,051 patents in 2016, an increase of 1.5 percent over 2015. It also published approximately 381,792 utility and plant patent applications, essentially unchanged from last year. Table 1 shows the number of documents by type. Design patents and plant patents increased by 11 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Reissue patents declined 16.8 percent over 2015.

Table 1. US Patents by Type Issued in 2016*

Type

2016

2015

% Change

Utility patents

303,051

298,446

1.5

Reissue patents

426

512

-16.8

Design patents

28,874

25,987

11.1

Plant patents

1,235

1,074

15.0

SIRs

0

0

0

Applications

381,792

380,450

0.35

*Based on preliminary data from the USPTO website. Totals may change after the fact due to withdrawn patents and published applications.

The USPTO reached another patent milestone on November 16 when it issued patent no. 9,500,000.

Leonard Lee, founder of Lee Valley Tools, a woodworking and gardening tool supply company, has died at the age of 77. Lee started selling woodworking tools by mail order in the late 1970s and then branched out into gardening tools, kitchen equipment, home hardware, clothes and books. LVT has 850 employees, $150 million annually in revenue and 19 retail locations. Lee was also an inventor who held more than forty patents for improvements in woodworking tools, jigs and devices.

Today is the Fourth of July, the 240 birthday of the United States of America. It also marks the 180th anniversary of the modern U.S. patent system. On this date in 1836, a new patent statute went into effect. A week or so later, on July 13, the first patent issued under the new act was granted to John Ruggles of Thomaston, Maine. In addition to being an inventor, Ruggles was a senator and one of the principal authors of the new law.

The Patent Act of 1836 was a watershed in U.S. patent history. It introduced (or re-introduced) the concept of examination: Patent examiners were required to search the prior art in order to validate the inventor’s claims that their inventions were new and non-obvious. The term of a patent was 14 years with the possibility of a seven year extension. The term was changed to 17 years in 1861.

Ruggles’ patent was called “Traction Wheels” for a “Locomotive Steam-engine for Rail and Other Roads.” The main idea of the invention was a system of cogs attached to a locomotive’s wheels for improved traction during icy or snowy conditions. Ruggles’ patent probably expired in 1850; there’s no evidence that he requested a seven year extension. He received at least one other patent, no. 202, in 1837 for a “rail for railways.”

Since 1836, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued more than 9.3 million patents.

A few weeks ago Michelle K. Lee was officially appointed Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) director. She is the first woman to hold the position and the 53rd head in the agency’s two-hundred year history. Ms. Lee served as deputy director since January 13, 2014. The USPTO has been led by acting and deputy heads since the departure on January 31, 2013 of David Kappos, who served about 3.5 years.

The USPTO reached another patent milestone on April 7 by issuing patent no. 9,000,000 to inventor Matthew Carroll of Florida. Mr. Carroll’s invention is a system for collecting and conditioning rainwater from a car’s windshield and channeling it to the vehicle’s windshield washer reservoir.

Patent no. 8,000,000 was issued on August 17, 2011, slightly less than four years ago. See the Patent Milestones page for other milestones in U.S. patent history.